Tanya Chutkan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tanya Chutkan
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| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia | |
| Assumed office June 5, 2014 |
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| Appointed by | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Tanya Sue Chutkan
July 5, 1962 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | George Washington University (BA) University of Pennsylvania (JD) |
Tanya Sue Chutkan (born July 5, 1962) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. district judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
She is the presiding judge over the criminal trial of former U.S. president Donald Trump over his alleged attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election, including the events leading up to the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
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Early life and education
Chutkan was born on July 5, 1962, in Kingston, Jamaica. Chutkan has a younger brother, Norman, and a younger sister, Robynne, both of whom are physicians. She is of Dougla descent. Her father Winston Chutkan is an Indo-Jamaican doctor, and her mother Noelle is an Afro-Jamaican who was one of the leading dancers at the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica. Noelle is the daughter of Frank Hill, one of the members of the People's National Party. Through her mother, Chutkan is a cousin of former Liverpool and England footballer John Barnes.
Chutkan received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 from George Washington University. She later attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was an associate editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. She graduated in 1987 with a Juris Doctor.
Early career
From 1987 to 1990, Chutkan was in private practice at the law firm Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells). From 1990 to 1991, she worked at the law firm of Donovan, Leisure, Rogovin, Huge & Schiller. From 1991 to 2002, she was a trial attorney and supervisor at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. In 2002, Chutkan joined the law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, becoming a partner in 2007. Her practice focused on complex civil litigation and specifically antitrust class action cases.
Federal judicial service
On December 19, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Chutkan as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to a seat created pursuant to 104 Stat. 5089. She received a hearing before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee on February 25, 2014. On March 27, 2014, her nomination was reported out of committee by a voice vote. On June 3, 2014, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 54–40 vote. On June 4, 2014, her nomination was confirmed by a 95–0 vote. She received her judicial commission on June 5, 2014.
Notable cases
On November 9, 2021, Chutkan denied former President Donald Trump's motion to keep records from being released to the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The D.C. Circuit affirmed that decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined review.
Chutkan has overseen the trials of more than 30 defendants in cases related to the January 6 Capitol attack. According to The Washington Post, she has been the toughest sentencing judge in those cases, ordering at least some jail or prison time in all cases, and sometimes exceeding the sentence recommended by prosecutors.
As of August 1, 2023, Chutkan is the judge overseeing Trump's criminal trial over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, culminating in the events leading up to the January 6 Capitol attack.
Personal life
Her ex-husband, Peter A. Krauthamer, served as a judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 2012 to 2023. They have two sons.
Chutkan donated $1,500 to Barack Obama's campaign between 2008 and 2009.
See also
- List of African-American federal judges
- List of African-American jurists
- List of Jamaican Americans
